St. James Town's 2019 Festival Report - For St. James Town Service Providers' Network (SJTSPN)
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St. James Town’s 2019 Festival Report For St. James Town Service Providers’ Network (SJTSPN) This report was prepared by the Festival Committee members for future planning purposes by the St. James Town Service Providers Network. This is to be shared internally amongst the SJTSPN and the planning committee. The executive summary can be found online at www.stjamestown.org. The compilation and coordination of the report was prepared by Amanda Bagri (MPH intern- Sherbourne Health) and Sehr Athar (Sherbourne Health & SJTSPN Co-Chair) with support from Alyssa Santsche (Social Work Student Placement, Fred Victor). Authorship contributions from Christina Tran (Sherbourne Health), Bill Hatch (Our Lady of Lourdes Parish), Norma Khandaker (Progress Place) and Robb Johannes (Fred Victor & SJTSPN Co-Chair 2019) have also been included. For further details and documentation, please contact The Corner at info@stjamestown.org 1
St. James Town Festival 2019 Table of Contents St James Town 2019 Festival Overview Page 3 Highlights of Community Partners at the Festival Page 4-6 Kids Zone, Activities, Crafts, Face-Painting, & Henna Page 7-8 Crafts, Artists, & Jewelry Vendors Page 9 Cultural and Diverse Food at the Festival Page 10 Cultural and Unique Performances Page 11-12 St James Town Community Awards Page 13-14 Volunteer Coordination / Recognition Page 15-16 Promotion, Publicity, Outreach Pages 17-18 Festival Map and Logistics Pages 19-20 Sponsorship and Fundraising Page 21 Planning and Collaboration Page 22-23 Conclusion Page 24 Appendix Page 25-29 2
St James Town 2019 Festival Overview The 9th annual St James Town Festival took place this year in the heart of St James Town! The 2019 SJT festival was celebrated on the 7th of September. Highlighting the resilience and community cohesiveness demonstrated in the neighborhood, this year's theme was Stronger Together and Resilient. The festival hosted 16 musical and dance performances on stage demonstrating various cultural heritages, 11 local food vendors serving diverse food, and about 25 community partners showcasing their services or engaging residents in interactive activities. 3 residents were the Master of Ceremonies for the day. This festival is a grassroots initiative, planned by the St. James Town Service Providers’ Network and a group of residents. The festival offers entertainment, kid’s activities, cultural foods and performances, information about services and programs while providing a sense of community and togetherness. The festival survey revealed that people expressed a very strong sense of belonging at the Festival. The day of is only made possible by the hard work of over 52 volunteers – mostly local community members. Overall, the majority of respondents, 65%, indicated that they were very satisfied, and 20% indicated that they were somewhat satisfied – demonstrating a 5% increase in each category from last year. See Appendix A for the survey itself and Appendix B for the survey results of the Festival. This year’s festival date was shared with the Cabbagetown Festival, with the intention of showcasing and profiling St. James Town to a much wider audience. Festival Feedback 53.2% of survey respondents indicated feeling a strong sense of belonging to the local community (feeling connected and accepted) 4
Highlights of Community Partners at the Festival The 2019 SJT Festival took place in the grassy parquette behind 200 Wellesley and Ontario Street. The permit was obtained from TCHC. This space being in the heart of St. James Town was easily accessible to the community, hence provided a great place for people to celebrate. The event was held from 1-6pm on September 7th, 2019. The festival was not held 2-7pm as the attendance wavered after 5pm during the 2018 festival. This was made possible through community partners all pitching in to provide tents, tables and chairs. For example, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish and The Corner were able to lend tents for the Festival. Community Matters and Woodgreen Community Services lent tables and chairs. We also received 100 chairs from Abundant Life Church (Truck Stage rental), and we rented 50 chairs from ABSO rental. TCHC contributed to the volunteer engagement activities, including lunch. 5
Each SJTSPN subcommittee was responsible for staffing their own booth and/or area or leading an activity zone. For example, the Catering Collective was responsible for the Food Vendors Area, SJTSPN Seniors’ Subcommittee - or most recently referred to as Older Adults Consortium - was responsible for the Seniors’ Tent, and the Growing Together team at Sick Kids Centre for Community Mental Health took a lead on the Kids Zone. The Youth Network coordinated the Youth Zone, and all Health Access St. James Town partners coordinated services in one area. All SJTSPN agencies that participated were encouraged as much as possible to offer interactive activities at their tents/ tables and booths, as well as services on site. This year the following organizations and groups participated via interactive booths either as part of a SPN Subcommittee Tent area or Activity Zone: Toronto Public Health, Sickkids Centre for Community Mental Health - Growing Together, Alliance for South Asian Aids Prevention, The Alzheimer’s Society, Sherbourne Health’s Urban Health Team, One Campaign, The Neighbourhood Group-Central Neighbourhood House, Youth United, Peacebuilders, Art City, Dixon Hall, Health Access St. James Town, Wellesley Community Centre, Hospice Toronto- Creating Caring Communities, Steps Initiative, The Neighbourhood Organization, Woodgreen Community Services, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Trinity Life Church, Fred Victor, Progress Place, The Corner, Sherbourne Health, Office of MP Bill Morneau Linda from Dixon Hall staffs the Tent for the Older Adults’ Consortium 6
Some special service activities to note included: ● Nalaxone Training provided to residents by Sherbourne Health ● Free Reiki provided through Hospice Toronto ● Youth United had a basketball tournament on the day of the festival, and the basketball winners were announced on stage! ● Health Access St. James Town intake staff did live intake for HASJT/ The Corner services ● The Corner provided free t-shirts to residents ● Sick Kids Centre for Community Mental Health and Woodgreen Community Services set up many games and learning activities for toddlers and young children ● Woodgreen staff and volunteers provided free Popcorn - the popcorn machine and popcorn throughout the day was a huge success Reiki provided by Hospice Toronto Volunteers Urban Health Team from Sherbourne Health provides Nalaxone Training to residents Basketball winners from the Youth United-organized Basketball Tournament Workers from Toronto Public Health host a booth with health information 7
Kids Zone Activities, Crafts, Face-Painting, & Henna The Festival committee organized special activities this year for kids such as free face-painting, a henna booth, and a bouncy castle. In addition, a number of agencies took the lead providing kid-friendly interactive games, arts and crafts activities at their booths. There were always 6 volunteers who rotated in face painting to make sure this activity was available for the duration of the festival! There were 4 individuals who provided henna for participants of SJT Festival. We also had a resident lead an interactive science experiment! In addition, Joon’s Balloons- lead by Dr. June Cheng from Sherbourne Health- provided nonstop free balloon making throughout the festival, which was a very popular activity. The team from SickKids Centre for Community Mental Health - Growing Together- oversaw the Kids’ Activities for the day. They provided interactive toddler activities and supervised the Bouncy Castle. 8
Sickkids CMH staff, Trina, speaks with a Festival volunteer about parenting programs for prenatal mums 9
Craft, Artists & Jewelry Vendors This year the festival showcased the work of local artists and craft vendors in St. James Town. The criteria for submission being living in St. James Town or surrounding area and showcasing a handmade product. There were over 6 craft vendors, which included artists and jewelry makers. Festival Feedback 49% of survey respondents rated the children’s activities as very good, and approximately 16% said it was their favorite part of the festival. In comparison to last year, fewer people indicated that they wanted to see more children’s activities. 10
Cultural and Diverse Food at the Festival Local Food Vendors Each year the call out for Festival participation, for performers and volunteers, also includes local food vendors. They work with the Community Dietician at Sherbourne Health, to provide safe and culturally tasty dishes at the festival for a fee. Each food vendor attended a one hour training in August. The 2019 SJT festival hosted 11 food vendors this year (see chart below). The vendors served food from 2-4pm. Name Food Item(s) Neha Pani Puri, Kachori & Chutney, Smoothies Mariam Kabuli Palaw & Tandoori Chicken, Bolani & Chutney, Basbousa Faiza Chicken Biryani, Potato Burger & Chutney Binal Trifle cups (assorted flavors), Brownie Cups, Pineapple Pastries Ashima Chili Paneer & Rice, Matar Chat Priyanka Vegetarian Samosa, Dahi Vada, Kochari Anapama Veggie Puff, Eff Puff Gayathri Vadai, Onion Bajji Shanthi Chicken Biryani Lopa Mango Lassi, Veggie Cutlet, Stuffed Parathas Chef Fried Chicken, Jerk Chicken, Pepper Steak, Curry Goat, Rice & Peas, Plain Rice, Steam Veggies, Coleslaw Festival Feedback 27.6% of survey respondents rated the food very good and 17% of respondents indicated that the food was their favorite part of the festival. Recommendations and Lessons Learned o Survey results indicated that survey respondents wanted more foods including more halal foods and foods for children (e.g. cotton candy). Nevertheless, food was once again one of the favorite parts of the festival for respondents. 11
Cultural and Unique Performances The St. James Town festival hosted a total of 16 community performances this year. Performances were held on the Truck Stage at St. James Town as well as a performance booth at the Cabbagetown Festival. The performers consisted of both adults and children who performed different songs and dance. Of the performers, 90% of the performers were from St. James Town and/or the surrounding area. Overall the performances represented the community well and were able to run throughout the duration of the whole festival. Performers were supported with a stage manager to help the flow of the performances. There were 4 auditions held at The Corner. This year, honorariums were included in the budget such that each performer was provided with a gift card or money. All performers were provided with a lunch meal on the day of, alongside other volunteers. The MCs for the day were all residents of St. James Town; Kyle, Danielle and Peta. 12
Name Type of Performance Wendy Belcourt Singing Om Kar Singing Youngsil Cho Singing Xian Yao Tang Dance Ernest Hum Band Rahul Ramani Singing Sumedha Mongia Dance Megha Dance Bhuvaneswari Dance Amit Sharma Singing Virgil & Kamal Guitar & Traditional Drums Reaching Out Through St. James Town Children’s Music Choir David Band Priya & Arti Dance Thrish & Adya Dance Kids Fashion Show (Ruby) Fashion Show Recommendations and Lessons Learned ● Honorariums for performers was greatly appreciated this year, so continue to set aside a good portion of the budget for performers ● The St. James Town Stage at the Cabbagetown Festival worked well to showcase St. James Town talents. The Cabbagetown Stage needs its own committee next year and staff and volunteers. ● Start the Festival off with musical performances instead of dance performances ● Try and diverse cultural groups for the performances next year, and try for more youth Festival Feedback 56% of survey respondents rated the performances as very good. With almost 36% of survey respondents stating that the performances were their favorite part of the festival. 13
St. James Town Community Awards The St. James Town Community Awards were created in order to recognize exceptional contribution by community members and groups that have created positive changes in St. James Town Community. St. James Town Festival 2019 awards committee recognized the contributions made over the past year (June 2018 – June 2019) in the community. The 2019 Awards will recognize contributions made over the past year (June 2018 – June 2019). A total of 10 awards and 2 scholarships will be given in the following categories: o SJT Change Makers (6 awards) o SJT Group Awards (3 awards) o SJT Scholarships (2 scholarships) Category Award Winner SJT Change Makers Youth (24 or under ) Sachintha Fernando Award Given to Seniors (55+) Femmie Prudente individuals’ who live Newcomers (5 years or Maheswari Kannan in SJT and has made less in Canada) outstanding Women (25+) Peta Francis contributions to the Men (25+) Milan Slavkovic community LGBTQ+ Danielle I. Szlawieniec-Haw SJT Group Award Big Business Bell Canada Grassroots Organization Repair Cafe SJT Scholarship Community Wannason Sinnathurai Engagement/Leadership Creative/Artistic Jason Jang Contribution SJT Champion Community Leadership Maryam Rahimi Supporter selected by service Mohamad Fakih providers Jack De Klerk Shahin Oudji 14
SJT Photograph Competition Awards St James Town hosted a photographer competition out of The Corner this year. The competition had the underlying theme of “Stronger Together and Resilient”. Since most of the participants were amateurs, entrees were not judged purely from a technical perspective but more in terms of creativity, the effort put in, the subject of choice and how the entree relates to the theme. Award Placement Name of Winner(s) 1st Place Award: 1st Place Joseph Yeo 2nd Place Neha Bhat 3rd Place Anitha 2nd Place Award: 3rd Place Award: Recommendations and Lessons Learned ● Planning of awards ceremony must be more well thought through - ensure list of awards and winners are finalized ● Begin promoting the awards ceremony early in the year so as to have many nominations, especially for the Youth Scholarship Award ● Promote the awards with Jarvis Collegiate ● Encourage SJTSPN member agencies, Landlords and partners to promote peers, volunteers and program participants for the awards ● Make inclusion criteria and theme more explicit in the instructions of the photography contest ● Promote photography contest earlier and with more rigorously - the number of entries was was small 15
Volunteer Coordination / Recognition The day was made possible with the help of our volunteers. Callouts for volunteers took the form of an online application, posters, support from The Corner and, support from volunteer organizations. Trinity Life Church and Our Lady of Lourdes Parish who were able to recruit and orient many volunteers. There were 39 pre- registered volunteers, followed by another 13 volunteers who showed up on the day of the festival, for a total of 52 volunteers. Two orientation sessions were held for all volunteers. Roles of volunteers in the Festival were discussed as well as debriefing of the day. Approximately 40 volunteers, students and staff enjoyed breakfast, lunch and treats throughout the day. A room at the Corner was set up to welcome and appreciate the volunteers for their hard work and commitment on the day of the Festival. Food donations were picked up from Mandy and Domino's Pizza, and the Corner catered to salad, fruit, hot dogs and hamburgers. 16
Recommendations and Lessons Learned ● Give volunteers a volunteer manual in advance, in case they cannot make it to the training sessions ● Ensure that volunteers are aware of what they will be doing on a particular shift ○ some of the volunteers who came for 5pm were confused that the festival was already over and weren't sure of what to do or why they were needed at all. Perhaps having more overlap between the shifts or clear goals for each time slot would be make this a bit easier (so people come in knowing what to expect) ● For the volunteer registration position - ensure that they are provided a list of volunteer names, volunteer roles and workstation so that they can be directed efficiently. 17
Promotion, Publicity, Outreach Callout for Performers, Volunteers, Vendors The call out poster for vendors, performers, and volunteers went out in June. There were many vendors interested this year due to the early promotion of the call out. Additionally, a Facebook events page for the Festival was created and maintained for the duration of the Festival generating 210 people interested. Festival Promotion The Festival poster went up in all the 19 high rise buildings as well as hand bills door to door, and local businesses in and around St. James Town featured posters in store windows. Staggering the roll out of the postcards and posters was effective. The process began 4 weeks prior to the Festival. Additionally, Cabbagetown BIA had offered to share postcards promoting the SJT Festival on one side and the Cabbagetown on the other. Postcards were handed out to Winchester Public School and Rose Avenue Public School to the teachers to send home with all the students. Feedback from Community Ambassadors was that students that received the postcard through schools, came home to tell their parents about it and were very excited. The festival also had its own Facebook page, and through The Corner’s social media handles on twitter, Instagram and Facebook, it was promoted in advance of the festival. 18
Festival Feedback 49.2% of respondents heard about the festival from a family or friend, followed by 18.5% that heard about the festival from The Corner Outreach Staff/Volunteers and 12.1% from a flyer. Recommendations and Lessons Learned ● Promote the Call Out for Volunteers, Vendors and Performers in early June or May ● Continue major outreach for the Festival only 1 month before the festival (eg. street outreach, door-to-door) ● Consider bulk mail for the postcard distribution instead of door-to-door in with volunteers ● Continue to partner with Winchester Public School, Rose Avenue Public School to distribute postcards to the students through the schools ● Reconsider postcard printing via only one method next year as we had too many postcards to distribute during outreach ● Consider a more effective and thoughtfully planned out social media strategy, as there was not a lot of social media promotion leading up to Festival this year, and the organizers felt that it was a missed opportunity given The Corner’s online presence 19
Festival Map & Logistics 20
Festival Feedback 65% of survey respondents felt very satisfied with the St James Town Festival. Nonetheless, some suggestions that arose in the survey call for more booths and a larger location space. Recommendations and Lessons Learned ● Continue to work with community partners to leverage tents, tables and chairs and save budget ● Maintain partnership with Abundant Life Church for Truck stage, and chairs ● Invite agencies and SJTSPN Subcommittees to lead the Activity Zones and Tent Areas again (decentralize the planning process) ● Allocate more room for booths ○ Suggestions from survey included: self-defense, health and wellness booths ● Similarly to previous years, there was a call for portable washrooms 21
Sponsorship & Fundraising This year the Festival planning committee had a donations/contributions subcommittee. Local businesses contributed to the festival and festival sponsors were recognized on social media, the Facebook page and a poster was printed with their logos. Sherbourne Health was the trustee of this year’s Festival fund, and Festival Co-Chairs ensured to coordinate with Sherbourne’s team to administer funds, petty cash and monitor cheques/ invoices coming in and out of the account. Resource Contribution/Budget Festival Sponsors and Small Business Donations Reserve (2018) $5115 Domino’s Pizza Total Incoming Revenue 2019 $5040 Lemay Hair Salon Total incoming revenue in Gift $1328 Phillipine Variety Store Cards etc. St. James Town Dry Cleaners Total Expenses 2019* (NOT $5613 Medallion Corporation including gift card expenditure) Greenwin Property Management Total Gift Card Expenditure $854 Wellesley Parliament Square Difference (2020 Reserve) $5036 Total Expenditure 2019 Budget Items Amount Tents Tables Chairs Rental $197.75 Resident Co-Chair Honorarium $350.00 Stage Rental, BBQ, Chairs $550.00 A/V Equipment, Sound, Set up $500.00 Plaques/Awards/ Certificates $689.30 Scholarships $1000.00 Food – Volunteer Lunch and Meetings $101.24 + $26.63 Performer honorarium $900.00 Appreciation Dinner $419.00 Day of Incidentals (face-painting, popcorn, $395.05 cleaning supplies, water, henna) Bouncy Castle $280.00 Outreach and Promotion (SJT pins, posters) $204.53 - $56.50 TOTAL EXPENSES $5613 Recommendations and Lessons Learned ● Continue to engage our sponsors and note them on social media, website and at the Festival ● Continue to outreach to the local businesses like Domino’s pizza and make new partnerships with suggested businesses like: Mr. Jerk & Pam’s Carribean. ● The Committee has decided not to go with Maple Lodge Farms for hot dog donations for future Festivals, but instead ask a community partner to purchase hot dogs via sponsorship ● If the Committee would like to engage the City Councilor’s office for sponsorship like the barbeque this year, engage early and follow up on a regular basis, so as to not let it fall off the radar 22
Planning and Collaboration The Festival Committee met monthly starting in April and increased the meetings as the Festival drew closer depending on what needed to be addressed. Similarly to last year, St. James Town residents were invited to take on more leadership roles with the planning aspects of the Festival, sitting on Sub- Committees as well as Co-Chairing the overall Festival. The resident Co-Chair was Maheshwari Kannan. Festival Committee Name Agency MC Subcommittee Robb Johannes Fred Victor Peta Francis Resident Danielle Szlawieniec-Haw Resident Kyle Zhang Resident Volunteer Subcommittee Bill Hatch Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Lewis Walker The Corner Laura Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Milinda Yimesghen Sherbourne Health Karthik Pandalangat The Corner Sath Arulvarathan Trinity Life- The New Common Patricia Alvarenga Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Minara Begum Hospice Toronto Performance Yogita Sanap The Corner Subcommittee Sachintha Fernando Sherbourne Health Lewis Walker The Corner Karthik Pandalangat The Corner Kyle Zhang The Corner Awards Subcommittee Robb Johannes Fred Victor Norma Khandaker Progress Place Cabbagetown/ Yogita Sanap The Corner Performers Sachintha Fernando Sherbourne Health Logistics/ Budget Sehr Athar Sherbourne Health Milinda Yimesghen Sherbourne Health Suja Selvaraj The Corner Armela Marano The Neighbourhood Office Business Subcommittee Niv Balachandran The Corner Thomas Tesfay The Corner Maheshwari Kannan Resident Co Chair Outreach & Social Media Aravind Joseph The Corner & Promotes Tomas Tesfay The Corner 23
Food Vendor Christina Tran Sherbourne Health Subcommittee Deeksha Gupta Catering Collective Henna/ Crafts Yogita Sanap The Corner Maheshwari Kannan Resident Co Chair Kids Zone Tamara Este SickKids Centre for Community Niv Balachandran Mental Health Avneet Hooria The Corner Woodgreen Community Services Youth Network Tent Jansten Labagnao Wellesley Community Centre Health Access Tent Nayanthi Wijesuriya Health Access St. James Town Seniors Tent Norma Khandekar Progress Place Corner Tent Suja Selvaraj The Corner Audio/ Visual Rick Latif Resident Recommendations and Lessons Learned ● As always, planning for festival should begin as early as April of the year ● Engage residents from the beginning in the planning, including for Co-Chair ● Tent areas via SJTSPN subcommittees worked really well this year in order to coordinate services and activities. We were able to really work with agencies to showcase their expertise ● Continue to designate SJTSPN agency leads to Tent or Zone areas ● Performance subcommittee needs a lot more support next year if we are continuing to have two stages, one at Cabbagetown and one at the SJT Festival ● Bring residents on early to the MC subcommittee process if they are going to be MC’s again 24
Conclusion SJT 2019 Festival was another success! Survey results indicated that 65% of feedback from festival attendees said they were very satisfied with the Festival. And 75.2% of survey respondents said they met new people, created new social connections or experienced something new at the festival. Excellent feedback was received from the subcommittees who volunteered to run various tasks and from attendees. How satisfied were you with the St James Town 2019 Festival overall? 25
Appendix: Residents’ Feedback Health Access St. James Town implements a survey each year at the St. James Town Festival. The survey objectives include an evaluation of the Festival itself, as well as garnering input from residents on service and program needs in St. James Town. This year, two additional questions were added to the survey that are intended to be utilized as a baseline in measuring social isolation and connectedness. The survey is administered by volunteers. This year 110 surveys were administered. Each question had varying response rates. The survey data was entered into survey monkey, and qualitative feedback was coded by a group of students, volunteers under the supervision of the Health Promotion Specialist on Sherbourne’s Newcomer Health Team. 1. Demographic Profile of Survey Respondents Gender of respondents 42 female-identified, 26 male –identified Age of respondents The majority of participants were between the ages of 31 and 40 years old. Postal Code of survey respondents 73% of survey respondents were from St. James Town (40 of the 55 responses), and 27% (15 of the 55 responses) lived outside of St. James Town, indicating that participants from other parts of Toronto are attending the Festival. 2. Feedback on programs, services, social connections What is ONE program or service you wish you could see in St. James Town? There were 79 responses to this open-ended question, summarized below under the sections of programs vs services. Programs - Programming concerning children and youth, seniors and arts/dance seemed to be the most popular responses. 26
● Children & Youth Programs- “something to teach children about being organized, learning about respecting and health,” “arts for youth,” “music for kids,” “kids dances.” The majority of responses suggested more programs in general for youth and kids. ● Multicultural Events & Programs- “Afghan programs from Afghanistan,” “program(s) for all nationality(ities),” “immigration information booth.” ● Security/Public Environment- “safety” ● Career/Employment-” health promotion, early career.” ● Arts/Dance- “more drama and storytelling activities or poetry,” “'dance, singing,” “bollywood dance,” “more fun and music.” Many of the responses suggested wanting more “dance” in general. ● Programs for specialized groups- eg. seniors (“free BP testing for our elderly,” “free homecare service,” “programs for seniors,” “Alzheimer education”) and parents (“parenting and communication,” “childcare/ daycare provider”). ● Recreational- “exercise during winter in evening,” “movie night, like the ones hosted at regent park,” “fun with numbers and board games.” Many people shared that they were excited for the swimming pool to open. ● Health and Wellbeing- “monthly social programs and speakers of different healthy well- being,” “postnatal and prenatal.” Services - Within services, specialized services related to health and wellbeing were mentioned the most number of times. Specific suggestions within this area included: ● Food security- food programs for students on weekends and throughout the entire year. ● Additional services included: immigrant services, LGBTQ services, free legal services, counselling services, tutoring services, repair classes. What is ONE thing that organizations/agencies can do to better meet the needs of residents in St. James Town? There were 65 responses to this question. The responses were categorized into 5 thematic areas below. Outreach/Communications & Community/Resident Engagement ● “More outreach to the community” ● “Post availability more actually” ● “More volunteers” ● “Communitication” ● “More groups at expect the st james town corner” ● “By separating them and giving good advice to the residents” ● “Paid stalls will attract more crowd with better location” Community Events ● “Organize this programme often” ● “More community program” ● “Board games” ● “Time to time meeting, picnic, potluck etc.” 27
Security/Safety/Cleanliness ● “Security guards” ● “We would like to keep the community more clean and safe” ● “Proper maintenance, cleaning around the surroundings” ● “Improve safety” ● “Strive to ask for better elevator maintenance” Specialized services/supports and programs ● Children & Youth- “more playground for students,” “anything for kids.” ● Art/Dance- “music programs.” ● Health & Wellbeing- “learning about cleaning the environment, enhancing people's knowledge about the environment,” “offer classes for kids and adults more children,” “drug prevention program,” “health.” ● Seniors- “we need to have vegetable fruit stand that is free for seniors” ● Cultural - “food and culture program” ● Food Security- “more Food bank” ● “Men's program” ● “Bench, portable washroom” General service provision ● “A little more organized” ● “More service offered” ● “Available on site” ● “Good communication and peace” 3. New learnings about St. James Town through the Festival One of the goals of the festival is to promote and increase access to resources, programs and services for vulnerable residents, as well as to create a sense of community. Did you meet any new people, create new social connections or experience something new at the SJT Festival today? (nominal and open ended) 28
When asked whether festival attendees met anyone new, created new connections or experienced something new at the SJT Festival today, 72.5% responded with “Yes” and 24.8% responded with “No”. Of those who responded with “Yes”, there were 12 open-ended responses to this question. The responses were categorized into 3 thematic areas below. Available services/supports/programs Festival attendees described learning about different programs and their city. Specifically, attendees mentioned: ● “Parenting group/ Bike 24 hob” ● “I learn about some health and legal support” ● “Meet some organization” ● “I learned about the seniors program at the corner” Meeting and interacting with new people in the community Majority of responses from festival attendees suggested learning more about their community and the people who make it. Specific responses included: ● “This is the first time to see the entire community together. It is a very good event” ● “I met some Indian friends, I get to know about the culture” ● “Met some new friends” ● “Met a Mexican friends and I know about their food” Caring environment Responses from festival attendees also suggested learning about the caring nature of their community. Specific responses included: ● “Very nice friendly environment ● “Friendly” 4. Overall Festival Feedback When asked how satisfied participants were with the festival, 65% of respondents said they were very satisfied. 29
5. Favourite Aspect of Festival The most common favourite aspect cited was the performances and dances. People spoke about the various performances from both adults and children’s groups as a highlight of their entertainment. Similar to previous years, food was another favorite part of the festival that was popular among survey respondents. Notably, some survey respondents claimed that the community coming together was an enjoyable part of the festival. Participants were happy with the diversity of participants and booths and believed that the festival was a good way to engage community members of all walks of life. 30
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